The Cold War - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Cold War. 1947-1991. Post War to Cold War. GI Bill – Congress passed this to allow soldiers returning home access to low interest loans and free education Baby Boom – the population jumped in the years following WWII (Baby Boomers are those born 1945 – 1960)

Copyright Complaint Adult Content Flag as Inappropriate

I am the owner, or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the copyrighted work described.

Download Presentation

The Cold War

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation

Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author.While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server.

Post War to Cold War • GI Bill – Congress passed this to allow soldiers returning home access to low interest loans and free education • Baby Boom – the population jumped in the years following WWII (Baby Boomers are those born 1945 – 1960) • Consumerism – WWII had ended the Great Depression & people had jobs and were spending money

Definition: • The Cold War (1947–1991) was the continuing power struggle -existing after World War II (1939–1945) between the Communist World -primarily the Soviet Union and its allies, and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States and its allies.

Causes of the Cold War • WWII – USSR lost 20 million people and were determined to gain #’s through Satellite Nations – those nations under Soviet control • Post-War differences of opinions – Yalta Conference and control of Germany and Poland • USSR’s creation of the “Iron Curtain” – symbolic of communist domination and oppression • Stalin pledged to spread communism

Events of the Cold War Under Truman • Truman Doctrine – promised assistance to countries trying to resist communist oppression • Marshall Plan – promised financial aid to rebuild post WWII Europe • Germany, including it’s capital of Berlin was divided into four occupation zones each controlled by and Allied country. • West Germany under control from the US, British, and French prospered while East Germany under Soviet control did not.

Berlin Airlift • Berlin was in East Germany and Stalin closed all transportation routes into West Berlin cutting of supplies to millions of residents. • Trying to avoid war, Truman began the Berlin Airlift – British and US planes delivered supplies by air for 15 months to West Berlin

The Berlin blockade increased the fear of communist aggression in Western Europe. • As a result NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed as a defensive alliance. • Then, the USSR formed the Warsaw Pact- Soviet alliance. • Policy of Containment – efforts to prevent the spread of communism

Cold War and Korea • After WWII, the 38th Parallel divided North Korea (supported by the Soviets) and South Korea (supported by the US). • In 1950, Communist N. Korea attacked S. Korea and the UN sent troops in led by Gen. MacArthur. - China joined N. Korea and it led to a stalemate. - In 1953, both sides signed an armistice and Korea remained divided.

Cold War Under Eisenhower • The US and the USSR raced to develop the H-bomb (US won in 1952, but Soviets had one in 1953) • Policy of Brinkmanship – willingness of the US to threaten war against Soviet aggression

Space Race and Kennedy’s New Frontier • The Soviets launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite (1957) • U-2 Incident – US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union ** Showed the US that the USSR had developed long range missiles. • April 12, 1961 – Yuri Gagarin (Soviet) was the first man in Space • May 5, 1961 – Alan Shepard became the 1st American in Space. • July 20, 1969 – Neil Armstrong became the 1st man on the moon.